Goemkarponn desk
CANACONA: It is every election promise to construct a road and build culvert—bridges to connect much of the basic facilities deprived community living on a hillock 6 km away amidst a dense forest coming under the Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary, Keri a small residential hamlet in Cotigao Village.
As monsoon rains come, Keri gets itself cut off and remains isolated from the Cotigao village during the entire rainy season as a rivulet on its way down the village gets activated and violently flows making it impossible to cross over. However, the residents over the years have invented a Sankov (culvert) erected with wooden plants, which people themselves build every year at the beginning of the rainy season and use till the water in the rivulet recedes suitably to allow pedestrians to walk through.
It is believed about 90-odd residents staying in 15-18 households of Keri, a residential hamlet on the tip of a hill-lock in Cotigao village under Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary continue to exist without basic necessities now over 6 decades since Goa’s Liberation from the Portuguese regime.
The villagers have not only to cover large distances to reach any nearby village but also have to brave the wild animals and pests which either attack and bite respectively, while walking in the dense forest. Nadkem, Yeda is the nearest motorable road Keri residents can reach in Cotigao village, while Verlem is another village to its north in Sanguem, where a few people have contacts.
Keri residents has been living with a minimal resources with farming as their main bread –earning occupation and livelihood, besides cashew plantation during the cashew season
With the younger generation staying in rented rooms and houses for education and private jobs purposes, and returning only on weekends and long holidays, it is learnt that mostly the aged people. It is also learnt that none of the educated lots from Keri (Cotigao) are learning with great difficulties and though have been working in private firms are in government jobs as yet. The village at Keri doesn’t have proper water-supply nor electricity supply except of ever failing Solar lights previously facilitied by than Poinguinim MLA/Ex-Minister Isidore Fernandes, which according to sources worked for some years.
Incidentally, the 6 kilometre distance to reach the nearest locality of Nadkem, which has motorable roads is only a Pathway, traditionally existing since unknown times, where people can only walk through the thick jungle cover, while the people themselves repairs this pathway after the end of monsoons every year so as to enable them to take motorbikes into their locality. But riding 2-wheelers to their residential localities is possible only during summer months, while the pathway turns into a dangerous walking-track with rocky slope and growth of thick vegetation during monsoon, even as water flows continuously from the streams in every direction.
There is also Rivulet, a non-perennial one, which gets activated and water flows violently during the rainy season, totally cutting-off the Keri residential hamlet from the rest of the village. So, in the absence of a proper road and a culvert (Sankow), the few locals who own 2-wheelers prefer to keep their bikes on the other side of the rivulet to enable them to use it to travel elsewhere.
A resident who recently filmed the Keri residents’ plight of transversing on foot with headloads stated is this the government plank of ‘Bhivpachi Gharaz Na?’. People are also seen complaining how they will be washed away if someone slips and falls from the wooden bridge.
According to the Keri residents, they have been promised a proper road with culverts wherever required by every politician visiting their locality during elections time and their demands on these two necessities has always been agreed during every Assembly Elections, remembered at every Lok Sabha elections and moreover reiterated by local candidates contesting the Panchayat elections, but none of their necessities have materialised as yet.
Kamlakar Velip, a local resident asking whether people should be afraid of the situation in which are left to survive is indeed ‘Bhivpachi Gharaz Na’, complains that because of children education, people are forced to take rooms and rent and stay there leaving the old parents at Keri. ‘Even our motorcycles which we take to our locality during summer time by preparing a sufficient way, are not possible during monsoon so we need to keep it 18-20 kM away and walk to our home above’.
“We keep on telling and reminding our MLA as well as panchayat members the need of a culvert bridge and a proper motorable road. Because every monsoon time we face these difficulties to reach our houses and to go to town or our main village. They had to do it sooner the better, otherwise we can’t continue this way.’, said a female resident.
‘After taking lots of trouble our children have studied, but their learning is useless, as not even a single government job is provided to our children by any government so far. What is the use of learning by staying in rented rooms or with relatives?’, asks another villager.
